Lung Transplant |Overview
Since its inception in 1990, Boston Children’s Lung Transplant Program has improved the lives of hundreds of children with end-stage lung disease. Ourlung transplant teamevaluates infants, children and adolescents who are potential candidates for a lung transplant, explores all treatment options and determines the best option for the optimal outcome for your child.
We work closely withBoston Children’s Division of Pulmonary and Respiratory Diseases, which includes programs and services such as theInterstitial Lung Disease Program,Center for Healthy Infant Lung Development,Chronic Pulmonary and Ventilator Programand theCystic Fibrosis Center— one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. We also work with some of the cardiac programs, including thePulmonary Hypertension Programand thePulmonary Vein Stenosisteam.
Pediatric focus
Care for our transplant patients is provided by ateam of pediatric specialistsspecially trained to care for children with end-stage lung disease. The conditions leading to transplant can frequently and significantly differ from those leading to transplant in adults. Our team has the pediatric expertise and experience to treat even the most complex pediatric cases, and we use this expertise to avoid or delay transplant when possible. If lung transplantation is the best option, we will work with you and your family to make certain your child is in the best possible health to ensure a successful outcome.
We recognize that lung transplantation is more than just a surgery. Our program places a unique emphasis on thetransplant journey, offering support and care long after your child leaves the hospital. As your child transitions from an adolescent to young adult, we will help them manage their own health care and adapt to the challenges of adhering to a medication schedule.
Lung Transplant Program team approach
Our program is a multidisciplinary effort between the medical and surgical teams at Boston Children's. Together we provide comprehensive care to children with a variety of diagnoses, including:
- chronic lung disease
- cystic fibrosis(with and without multi-resistant organisms)
- pulmonary vein stenosis
- interstitial lung diseaseand other end-stage lung diseases
We also care for children in need of lung re-transplantation, as well as those on mechanical support (ventilator and/or ECMO), due to severe respiratory failure. Ourlung transplant teamcollaborates with the adult lung transplant program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, also in Boston, a partnership that advancesresearchon transplantation and allows clinicians to share best practices.
A bridge to lung transplant
In some cases, when your child is waiting for a lung transplant, he or she may need a special treatment plan to medically support breathing while waiting for donor lungs to become available. Or your child may need a therapy that helps build up the necessary strength to successfully undergo a transplant operation. Boston Children's clinicians offer an innovative technology that does all that, and allows the patient to remain alert and awake the entire time.
The Quadrox membrane oxygenator is a lung-assist device that adds oxygen to the blood in the same way a healthy pair of lungs would. Traditionally, the Quadrox is used as part of ECMO, a special device therapy that doctors use to support a child who is waiting for a heart transplant.
To better treat those patients who only need lung assistance, and do not require the complete assistance of ECMO, Boston Children's doctors developed a unique method to take the Quadrox device out of the ECMO process and offer it to patients in need. This means patients who use the Quadrox receive all the lung assistance they require without being subjected to the risks associated with ECMO. Patients remain awake, alert and are able to move and interact with their parents and caregivers while the Quadrox supplies their blood with oxygen.
Research and innovation
Ourlung transplant researchis aimed at preventing both short- and long-term lung transplant injury, the development of transplant tolerance and novel therapies for long-term acceptance of transplanted lungs. An induction protocol, begun in 2008, has reduced acute cellular rejection first year post-transplant to less than five percent, compared to the expected 40 to 50 percent.
在全球范围内,肺移植研究缓慢because there are comparatively few of them performed. Boston Children’s is hoping to help solve that problem by conducting research as a member of the International Pediatric Lung Transplantation Collaboration, an organization founded to give lung transplant researchers as much data to work with as possible. Learn more about our latestlung transplant research.